Touchxpress controllers speed development of capacitive sensing applications

Silicon Labs has introduced the TouchXpress family of fixed-function controllers that are claimed to provide the fastest, easiest way to add low-power capacitive touch interfaces to embedded designs.

The robust CPT007B and CPT112S TouchXpress controllers are said to eliminate time-consuming firmware development, providing a simple turnkey solution for adding sleek, touch-based user interface designs to a wide range of products including home appliances, white goods, consumer electronics, lighting control, medical equipment and instrument/control panels.

The CPT007B GPIO switch replacement device enables developers to replace up to seven mechanical buttons with capacitive touch sensors with no firmware development. The GPIO interfaces provide direct on/off sensor status to the host processor.

The CPT112S capacitive sense I2C device features up to 12 sensor inputs to simplify the addition of capacitive sense functionality for touch-based interfaces. The I2C interface provides a way to track the status of touch sensors, and an interrupt pin can wake the host processor from sleep after a proximity touch detection.

Both capacitive touch controllers support advanced features such as moisture immunity, wake-on proximity, touch time-out, mutually exclusive touch qualifier and buzzer feedback for an enhanced user experience. The CPT112S device also offers a slider control option.